1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of magnetic resonance, specifically to a single-sided magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensor that provides microscopic depth resolution.
2. The Prior Art
Single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensors are used to characterize large size objects by measuring signal intensity, relaxation times and self-diffusion coefficients inside a sensitive volume generated in the sample by an open magnet. G. Eidmann, R. Savelsberg, P. Blümler and B. Blümich. The NMR-MOUSE, A Mobile Universal Surface Explorer, J. Magn. Reson. A122, 104-109 (1996). Two different magnet philosophies can be distinguished in previous works. One is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,872 by Fukushima and references included there, where a region of a homogeneous field is generated outside the magnet. The second type is described in G. Eidmann, R. Savelsberg, P. Blümler and B. Blümich, The NMR-MOUSE, A Mobile Universal Surface Explorer, J. Magn. Reson. A122, 104-109 (1996), where a field with a strong gradient is tolerated. Exploiting the static field gradient inherent in the second type of geometries, volumes at different depths into the sample can be reached just by retuning the excitation frequency.
Although the procedure is similar to the high-resolution stray field imaging technique (STRAFI), the depth resolution reported with single-sided sensors is rather poor. In contrast to STRAFI, where the uniform static field gradient found in the fringe field of superconducting magnets is used to produce sample profiles with microscopic resolution, P. J. McDonald. Stray field magnetic resonance imaging, Prog. Nucl. Magn. Reson. Spectrosc. 30, 69-99 (1997), the field produced by the open magnets suffers from considerable lateral gradients, which define a curved sensitive slice that limit the depth resolution. Several attempts have been made to improve the flatness of the sensitive volume by tailoring the magnet geometry, but a space resolution hardly better than half a millimeter has been reported. P. J. Prado, NMR hand-held moisture sensor, Magn. Reson. Imaging 19, 505-508 (2001); B. Blümich, V. Anferov, S. Anferova, M. Klein, R. Fechete, M. Adams and F. Casanova, A simple NMR-MOUSE with a bar magnet, Magn Reson. Eng. 15 (4), 255-261 (2002); P. J. Prado, Single sided imaging sensor, Magn. Reson. Imaging 21, 397-400 (2003); F. Casanova and B. Blümich. Two-dimensional imaging with a single-sided NMR probe, J. Magn. Reson. 163, 38-45 (2003); J. Perlo, F. Casanova und B. Blümich, 3D imaging with a single-sided sensor: an open tomograph, J. Magn. Reson. 166, 228-235 (2005).
As a result of optimization procedures, where the field profile is improved playing with the position and orientation of a large number of permanent block magnets, complicated and expensive magnet geometries are obtained. An important restriction to the optimization procedure is introduced by the requirement of a large depth range with a flat sensitive volume. This field profile has been preferred because it allows the selection of planar slices at different depths into the object just by electronically switching the tuning frequency. Nevertheless, there are strong deficiencies in this approach when the density profile is contrasted by the relaxation times or by the self-diffusion coefficient in order to improve the discrimination of heterogeneities. It is well known that the spin lattice relaxation time T1 depends on the frequency, so that this type of contrast is not accessible for this scanning procedure. On the other hand, the transverse relaxation time measured by a Carr-Purcell-Meibohm-Gill (CPMG) sequence, the so-called T2eff, is a complex mixture of the spin lattice relaxation time T1 and the spin-spin relaxation time T2 that strongly depends on the spatial distribution of B0 and B1 fields. M. D. Hürlimann and D. D. Griffin, Spin dynamics of Carr-Purcel-Meibohm-Gill-like sequences in grossly inhomogeneous B0 and B1 fields and applications to NMR well logging, J. Magn. Reson. 143, 120-135 (2000). Therefore, a systematic error in the measurement of T2eff due to the variation of B0 and B1 distribution with the depth is produced. Finally, when contrast by diffusion is required, an unwanted dependence of the profile intensity is obtained due to the change of gradient intensity with the depth.